1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 30 Pirate Port

When Isaac learned of Surt's success, he immediately took his fleet to Dobruja.

The Governor of Dobruja currently has no available troops, as all his best soldiers and generals have been recruited by Murad II to fight a decisive battle with Skanderbeg. This is the best time to migrate.

Besides, he should be extremely grateful to the Governor for helping him solve such a big problem.

Isaac is giving instructions to Isurter and Anderson.

"Isurte, you will stay in Theodore for the time being and be in charge of the voyage from Dobruja to Constantinople. I have already informed the emperor that the capital will provide food."

"Also, you can pay attention. If there are low-priced Gothic slaves or Slavic slaves in Theodore Slave Market, you can buy them in bulk and ship them together."

Theodore was the distribution center for the entire Black Sea white slave trade, so the price of slaves should not be expensive.

"Anderson, you are responsible for the transportation from Constantinople to Surt Port. You can stop in Athens and Morea for supplies along the way."

"Albert has done a statistics. The port of Sirte can support about 8000 people. There are about 7 herders in the whole area. We will gradually drive them away and place our own people there."

"The goal of your first step is to fill up the most fertile land around the port of Surt."

Both of them agreed.

"Your Highness!"

On the beach, Guherz's eldest son, Razi, knelt before Isaac.

Behind him followed the first group of immigrants, totaling one thousand people.

They also knelt down following Lazi.

"Arise, God will not abandon His Lamb."

Isaac took a quick look and saw only pale faces, thin bodies, and poverty.

The men wore threadbare leathers, and the women hung linen they had woven themselves.

The children matured early and have already begun helping to manage the sheep and horses.

Isaac waved his hand, and the sailors on the ship brought food and firewood and started a fire on the beach.

"People of Rome, I will not let you continue to endure the oppression of pagans. I will lead you to find the land under the sun."

"Eating right now!"

The crowd cheered. They were obviously confused about "Rome", but the aroma of the food was real.

Sailors from the St. Nicholas and the transport fleet sat in a circle around the fire with the Dobruja Seljuks and enjoyed a hearty meal.

Isaac, Ghazi and others sat together, and from time to time girls of marriageable age came up to dance to entertain the nobles.

After eating and drinking, the tribesmen began to move their things onto the transport ship.

"Your Highness, what should we do with our livestock?"

Ghazi finds Isaac.

Isaac looked around and saw that there were very few cattle, mostly local white goats, which had very low meat and milk production.

"The cattle and sheep will be sold locally or we will sell them to Theodore, and the horses will be taken away and loaded onto the ship."

Isaac patted Gazi's shoulder.

"Don't worry, once you get there, all the pagans' cattle, sheep, horses and camels will be yours."

Isaac eventually bought the herders' goats at a price slightly higher than the market price and sold them on the spot.

The sailors blew their horns and the fleet set sail.

The transport fleet sailed to the open sea and joined the escort fleet cruising in the open sea.

This time Isaac brought a total of 15 transport ships, with four warships as escort fleet.

In a few weeks, they will arrive at their new home.

……

"kill!"

Mehmet shouted loudly, and the soldiers of the Purple Guard put down their horse bows, took out their sabers, and began to ride their horses to chase the enemy.

The enemy was poorly equipped, with no armor at all, a few on horseback, many on camels, and the majority were infantrymen wearing tattered clothing.

They were all tribesmen who were temporarily recruited. They had no command or tactics. At the beginning, their bows and arrows caused a lot of trouble to the Purple Guards. As the arrows ran out, the Purple Guards began to fight back.

These desperate Turks were superior to the Berber nomads in both fighting skills and physical fitness.

This was the third attack by the pagan nomadic tribes on the port of Sirte.

After Spymaster Albert planned and destroyed all the manpower in the port of Surt at lightning speed, he urgently transferred the Black Legion from Moria to join the defense.

There were no city walls in the port of Surt, so Mehmet ordered the houses to be demolished and fortifications to be built on the spot.

Albert also specially removed several cannons from the fleet to strengthen the firepower of the fortifications.

The camels and desert horses, facing artillery for the first time, were terrified. They kicked their hooves and ran around wildly, throwing the frustrated riders off their horses.

At this time, the musketeers from the Black Brigade and the archers from the Purple Guard began to shoot, and the enemies who lacked shields and arrows quickly fell into a disadvantage.

Afterwards, the Purple Guard cavalry began a counterattack, chopping down the enemies one after another.

These are spontaneous actions from the surrounding nomadic tribes and are nothing to worry about.

When they began to realize that this was not a simple business dispute but a war, and began trying to notify Fezzan or Tunisia, the Eastern Roman Empire was probably already prepared.

After a while, the Purple Guard cavalry came back talking and laughing.

Behind them were captured livestock and dejected prisoners.

"Captain of the Mehmet Banner! His Highness has arrived and is now at the City Lord's Mansion. Please hurry over!"

The messenger shouted.

Mehmet responded and rode his horse towards the city lord's mansion.

The decoration of the city lord's mansion was obviously in Islamic style. Mehmet pushed open the door of the reception room and walked to the last seat.

"Come! Sit next to me!"

Isaac greeted Mehmet cordially and pulled him to sit on his left.

"Everyone did a great job this time, especially Albert and the Purple Guards."

“I’m proud of you.”

Everyone applauded.

Next, Isaac announced the decision he had made during the voyage.

First, he ordered the Minister of Works, Lancelot, to build the city wall of the port of Surt, and planned to allocate 5000 ducats, so that stones from Muslim houses could be requisitioned on site.

Second, for the more than 4,000 Muslims in the city, they can be directly ordered to convert to Orthodox Christianity. Those who convert can be exempted from taxes for one year, and those who do not want to convert will be demoted to slaves to make room for the Orthodox Christians who move in. Third, for the nomadic tribes outside the city, they can be ordered to surrender first and contribute tribal warriors. If they are unwilling, they can be attacked later.

Fourth, after the troops arrive, speed up the occupation of the water sources and large oases outside the city.

Fifth, arrange for the first batch of Dobruja people to obtain pasture and distribute the first batch of means of production.

"This is my personal opinion, any other suggestions?"

Isaac looked around encouragingly.

"Your Highness, can I go back to my tribe?"

Abusheh had recently regained his tribe and was happy for a while, but he soon discovered that these Orthodox believers did not seem ready to leave.

Looking at Isaac's strong elite soldiers and huge fleet, and then looking at his own small tribe of 2000 people, he immediately gave up the desire to resist.

You can kill me or chop me up, it’s all up to you!

"Abu, are you willing to convert to Christianity and return to the embrace of God?"

"Your Highness, I..."

Abu hesitated.

On the side, Maruna had already pulled out half of the knife.

"It's my honor!"

Isaac nodded in satisfaction.

"You have to be the first to be baptized in front of the whole city. At the same time, you have to convince your tribe to be the first tribe to convert collectively."

"Yes……"

Abu said with difficulty.

If I really do this, I'm afraid I will never be able to return to the Islamic world.

It is estimated that even the tribes that were forced to convert are ready to move, and they can only rely on the city of Surt to maintain their position.

"Of the 500 tribesmen captured today, 200 will join your tribe."

"Yes! Thank you, Your Highness!"

Only then did Abu smile.

"Fidel, discuss with Lancelot about expanding the existing port. This will be the supply base for the Mediterranean Fleet in the future."

"You will depart from here, plundering along the coast, and at the same time connect with Albert's spy system to try to infiltrate Tunisia and Mamluk."

"I don't ask you to discover any confidential information, but at least you have to inform me immediately of any major event that is known to everyone."

"Yes!"

Fidel could not hide the excitement in his eyes.

"Norwich,"

Isaac turned around and woke up the Bulgarian captain who was in a daze.

"Your Highness, I am here."

"Your trade fleet will be busy for a while. Surt Port is not yet self-sufficient in food. You must transport as much food as possible here. Surt Port will use slaves in exchange."

Norwich nodded.

"Mehmet, Maruna, for now, we will focus on defense. Once our follow-up forces arrive, we can start cleaning up the surrounding area."

Both of them agreed.

"Albert, come forward!"

Albert, who was still dozing off, woke up instantly and hurried forward.

Isaac took the badge from the attendant.

"You have made the greatest contribution this time, so I hereby confer you the title of Lord."

Isaac personally placed the Lord's badge on Albert's chest.

"Your Highness..."

Then, Isaac took out a bottle of expensive wine from a Bordeaux winery in France.

He handed it to Albert with a smile.

"Drink less strong liquor in the future."

Everyone laughed.

"Yes!"

Albert blushed.

At night, Isaac stood in front of the window of the city lord's mansion, quietly looking at his first territory.

The city was still under military control, and important wells were guarded by guards.

The lights were still on in the direction of the port, and dock workers were working overtime to repair the damaged ships.

Captain Fidel can't wait to go out to sea to rob.

It was not yet curfew time, but there were still few people on the streets. The Muslims looked at the Orthodox soldiers standing guard in panic, not knowing what their fate would be.

In Isaac's plan, this place would become a pirate naval port and war base. Fidel would lead the fleet to plunder pagan merchant ships and at the same time pass through Sirte and encroach on the surrounding areas.

The city must be inhabited entirely by Orthodox Christians, the best pastures outside the city must be reserved for the Dobruja Seljuks, and the inferior pastures must be reserved for the converted Berbers and Bedouins, driving all the outer Muslim tribes into the desert.

In addition, castles can be built in important large oases as trading centers and the first line of defense against invasion.

The Berbers are known for their weakness, and the Bedouins mostly live deep in the desert. They are no match for him.

Historically, Spain and the Knights Hospitaller successively occupied the Tripoli area without encountering any major resistance until the Barbary pirates supported by the Ottomans drove them away.

At present, the shipbuilding technology of North African countries is backward and the Ottoman Barbary pirates have not yet appeared. Isaac wants to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune in the Mediterranean trade.

Barbaros Hayreddin could roam the Mediterranean for decades as a Turkish-Greek half-pirate captain, so there was no reason why Isaac could not.

Of course, the enemy will definitely not sit idly by and wait for death. Fezzan, which is nearby, Tunisia, which may also be affected, and Venice and Genoa, will not sit idly by and watch Isaac become more powerful.

woo-

The curfew horn sounded.

As he watched the guards capture wandering Muslims, a faint smile appeared on Isaac's lips.

Well then, let’s deal with it as it happens!

(End of this chapter)